He sits there quietly on his own in the back corner. He doesn't say a word or make a sound or even move other than the vigorous motion in which he cleans his rifle. He prefers silence. Solace. He prefers to left alone to his own thoughts.

Some would say he is the quintessential idea of what a Special Forces soldier should be. He's strong, fast, cunning, and very lethal. He has perfected his craft in the eyes of those around him, but in his own he still falls so short of the mark.

He feels this because he remembers the past loss of his comrades on the battlefield... men whom he has slept in the darkest of places beside, men he ate with, men he lived with, men whom he would have given his own life for, yet they are men who died in his arms. That's not something that a man can shake or get over no matter how strong he is. It's not something he can run from no matter how fast he may be.

Where most men might use this to drown their sorrows in the bottom of a bottle, he chooses to use the pain as a catalyst in honing his skills, to make himself better, but this is not enough. It's not enough that he is better, that he is faster, stronger, smarter... no. It helps yes, but this is not what keeps his men and comrades alive..... that was not the lesson that he had learned from that pain.

So he takes us, the new, green horned, rookies. He pulls us aside and teaches us the lesson. He makes us faster. He makes us stronger. He makes us more cunning. He makes us better than what we are. Why? Because when the bullets start flying, and the chaos ensues, he cannot defeat an enemy, who has become faster, stronger, and smarter, alone.... no. He needs us, as much as we need him. It is a matter of trust. We trust him to lead us, and he trusts us to follow. It isn't a matter of his being superior and we inferior. It is a matter of this is what must be done in order to keep each other alive. It is a brotherhood... It is a family.

Folks, we argue and bicker and mock each other. We ridicule and sneer. This country was a great and honorable nation. It was the Monument of Freedom.

Look at us now though.

I am ashamed.... Not of my country, but of our behavior.... I am ashamed of myself and of what mockery we've made ourselves. Politicians who will vote according to their party lines rather than with their constituents whom they represent. Military leaders who are too afraid to voice their opinion of how to win the war despite what the rest of this cowardly world might think. Teachers who are too scared to educate their students on the Proud and Noble Origins of our Great and Mighty Nation. Americans who refuse to pledge allegiance to our Glorious Flag. Americans who trample on the Most Important Document in our Noble Nations marvelous history,... the Constitution of these United States. What have we become?

We can change though. We can learn our lesson as the man I described above. But we must change ourselves. We must identify the fault that lies within our own hearts. We must see ourselves for who we really are. Then we must teach our children how to better themselves and how to never be satisfied with mediocrity. We must teach them how Great and Noble this Nation of the United States Of America truly is. We must instill in them the desire to love it, cherish it, and to secure it from all enemies both foreign and domestic. This is our home, this is our land, our brotherhood, our family. The wolves are growling at the door, and we are a house divided. We must come together in unity in order to keep these sacred lands free from tyranny and oppression. Let us learn from this lesson and keep our home free.

Valkyrie